Today’s Most Effective Creative means New Channels, not New Ads…

• by Dan Bailey

What’s the best way to create truly successful breakthrough promotions in this modern era of noise and communications saturation? Most creative agencies and schools, from my observation, have focused on producing the most creative, and best technical executions, in standardized media platforms. That is, the magazine ad can constantly be improved, the TV ad can be funnier, etc. 

I personally believe the best solutions, and the unknown frontier, lie not in creative adaptations of existing standard media channels, but in creating new channels for the promotions. I was at the ATL Integrated Mktg Summit last week and learned about the Honda Civic Musical Road project (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJFGacuxcSM). I know this is old news, but I somehow missed it the first time. For readers as ignorant as I was, Honda US created a musical experience for all drivers on a highway in Lancaster, CA, by creating grooves in the road. They also created a film documentary and commercials about the project.

This is undoubtedly a unique, creative idea. But is it effective? I think so – it is consistent with the product (car on the road) and the “fun” element of the brand. It caters to the audience’s experiencial hierarchy of effects (the driver or viewer experiences the musical road). But ultimately it stands out because it is a non-standard channel of promotion. And oh yah – this promotion helped Honda Civic achieve its objective of becoming number one car in the younger market. Not just another funny ad in a common medium – this was unforgettable. May we all be so creative and appropriate in our promotions…

– jake aull